SQLBI - Marco Russo : Conference, Conference Communitieshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/tags/Conference/Conference+Communities/default.aspxTags: Conference, Conference CommunitiesenCommunityServer 2.1 SP2 (Build: 61129.1)Learn #tabular and #dax at PASS Summit 2014http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2014/07/08/learn-tabular-and-dax-at-pass-summit-2014.aspxTue, 08 Jul 2014 03:57:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:54388Marco Russo (SQLBI)6http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/54388.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=54388http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=54388<p>During the last months I’ve seen an increasing adoption of Analysis Services Tabular (and I’m writing a longer article about a particular area of adoption which was probably not expected – more on that in a few weeks). This year at <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Home.aspx" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Home.aspx"><b>PASS Summit 2014</b></a> there are plenty of opportunities to learn (or improve skills on) Analysis Services Tabular:</p> <ul> <li><b>Mon, Nov 03, 2014: </b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6283" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6283"><b>Data Modeling in SSAS Tabular</b></a><b>&nbsp;</b>– pre-conference seminar by Marco Russo (yes, myself)</li> <ul> <li>This one-day seminar introduces the Tabular models using Visual Studio. The only prerequisite is a knowledge of SQL language. Previous experience in Analysis Services Multidimensional or other OLAP / Analytical tools is welcome but not required. If you already created projects in Tabular, you will understand how the Tabular engine works and how to create optimal data models. Compression efficiency is important, and this impact the way you model tables and relationships. DAX is not included in this day, because it is covered by Alberto in another seminar the following day.</li> </ul> <li><b>Tue, Nov 04, 2014:</b> <b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6391" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6391">From 0 to DAX</a>&nbsp;</b>– pre-conference seminar by Alberto Ferrari</li> <ul> <li>Either you use Tabular or Power Pivot, even if you started your Tabular experience the day before, this seminar introduces you the DAX language syntax and the important concepts (filter context, evaluation context) you have to know. This knowledge makes you able writing the formula you need, without the “try and see” approach that could be very confusing in DAX. Have you had this experience, writing a DAX formula that didn’t result in what you expect? This is the right seminar for you.</li> </ul> <li>General sessions (75 minutes):</li> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6395" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6395"><b>Advanced Modeling with Analysis Services Tabular</b></a> (Alberto Ferrari)</li> <ul> <li>This session is about how to overcome “limitations” in Tabular data modeling by creating virtual relationships, balance at point in time without snapshots, dynamic currency conversions, measures of active events, surveys, and basket analysis.</li> </ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6279" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6279"><b>DAX Patterns</b></a> (Marco Russo)</li> <ul> <li>I will explain some of the patterns available in <a href="http://www.daxpatterns.com/" mce_href="http://www.daxpatterns.com/">DAX Patterns</a> web site. Yes, you can read the articles and use the patterns, but this session has the goal of explaining how these pattern works, and not only how to use them. </li> </ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6197" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6197"><b>Working with Time Functions in DAX</b></a> (Michael Antonovich)</li> <ul> <li>I don’t know Michael, but if you never used Time Intelligence functions in DAX, this is a topic that you have to study. When you fill ready, you can still discover how to rewrite Time Intelligence functions with <a href="http://www.daxpatterns.com/time-patterns/" mce_href="http://www.daxpatterns.com/time-patterns/">Time Patterns</a>!</li> </ul> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6260" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6260">Load Testing Analysis Services</a> </b>(Bob Duffy)</li> <ul> <li>Bob wrote interesting articles about performance of Analysis Services, like this one about <a href="http://blogs.prodata.ie/post/Be-Careful-Partitioning-Analysis-Services-(Tabular).aspx" mce_href="http://blogs.prodata.ie/post/Be-Careful-Partitioning-Analysis-Services-(Tabular).aspx">partitioning in Tabular</a>, and I will certainly attend this session as an attendee (I hope it will not be overlapped with mine!)</li> </ul> </ul> <li>Even if not strictly related to Tabular, I made a personal selection of sessions that a BI Developer engaged with Analysis Services Tabular and/or Multidimensional should see:</li> <ul> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6845" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6845">Building a BI Solution in the Cloud</a></b> (Stacia Misner)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6846" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6846">Understanding BI Security Best Practices</a></b> (Stacia Misner)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6017" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6017">Building Hybrid BI Solutions with Power BI</a></b> (Rod Colledge)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6857" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6857">Data Modeling in the Age of Big Data and Self-Service BI</a></b> (Dan Bulos)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6020" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6020">Deep Dive into Analysis Services Security</a></b> (Gerhard Brueckl)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6575" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6575">Deep Dive into MDX Scoped Assignments</a> </b>(Chris Webb)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6668" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6668">Preparing a Power BI Workbook for Publication</a></b> (Peter Myers)</li> <li><b><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6707" mce_href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2014/Sessions/Details.aspx?sid=6707">Getting Started with SSAS Extended Events</a></b> (Mark Vaillancourt)</li> </ul> </ul> <p>This is going to be a very interesting PASS Summit. I’ve seen a rich sessions portfolio also for ETL, DWH SSIS, SSRS, And, of course SQL Server! Please let me know if I missed some important session for the BI Developers target!</p> <p><b>SIDE NOTE: BI Sessions at PASS Summit </b>- I’ve seen comments about moving BI-related sessions to PASS BA Analytics, giving more sessions to SQL Server. I’m not sure it would be a good idea for PASS. Today, PASS BA Analytics is a conference that is not mature, I would like to see more advanced sessions for BI Developers, but the point is that PASS BA only attracts a few hundreds of attendees, whereas the PASS Summit attracts a 35-40% of the audience made by people working in Business Intelligence arena. Dropping all the BI sessions would mean probably cutting a large part of the conference budget. I’ve seen PASS growing well and the SQL Saturday initiative is incredible. I understand that nobody would take the risk of damaging the main source of revenues of the organization that makes all this possible. Thus, I see a future for PASS BA Analytics are the conference for emerging tools and technologies (sort of “build” conference for BI – it’s not that today, but it’s a direction I would like to see), whereas PASS Summit is the conference for established and released tools and products (sort of “TechEd” conference for BI &amp; SQL DBA &amp; DEV).</p><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=54388" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferencePASSNot selected as a speaker at PASS Summit 2013 #sqlpass #sqlfamilyhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/05/22/not-selected-as-a-speaker-at-pass-summit-2013.aspxWed, 22 May 2013 13:05:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:49151Marco Russo (SQLBI)12http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/49151.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=49151http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=49151<p>I received the communication from the PASS Program Committee that none of my proposals have been accepted at <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2013/">PASS Summit 2013</a>. Probably this year there was too many proposals and I made a mistake not using all the possible proposals available per speaker. In fact, I just proposed one pre-conference day and two regular sessions:</p> <ul> <li><strong>From 0 to DAX </strong>(preconference) <br>DAX is the new language for creating Business Intelligence in the Microsoft stack. You can use it to query and program both Microsoft PowerPivot for Excel 2013 and the new SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular model. Learning the basics of DAX is very simple, but mastering it is a different story because it requires a mindset that involves some study, both for BI Professionals and Information Workers. <br>During this one-day workshop, we will guide you in the process of learning the DAX language, through many examples and scenarios that help you understand what are the important concepts of DAX and how to leverage them in your everyday work. <br>The seminar is useful to many profiles: BI developers who want to learn the DAX language and information workers interested in exploiting the many interesting features of PowerPivot for Excel 2013. <br></li> <li><strong>Optimizing Data Models in Tabular &amp; PowerPivot </strong>(regular session) <br>Is your new Tabular solution performing at its best? Are you using the best practices to reduce memory footprint, increase query speed and get the best out of the new engine? In this session, we will look at several techniques that can really make the difference in a Tabular solution. Distinct count reduction, join optimizations, condition consolidation, pros and cons of normalized data models, selection of the columns to store in the database are some of the topics covered in this session, which will highlight not only the best practices, but also practices that were best in Multidimensional and became worst in Tabular. As we are used to teach: if you known Multidimensional, you need to forget it in order to let the new concepts of Tabular shape your model. <br></li> <li><strong>Time Intelligence with DAX </strong>(regular session) <br>Time Intelligence is probably the most used feature of any analytical solution. Computing Year To Date, Month To Date, Same Period Previous Year is quite easy in DAX. However, the DAX formulas start to be harder to write as soon as the requests for time intelligence involve working days evaluation, complex and custom calendar shapes, seasonal pattern recognition, ISO-based weeks handling, 445 fiscal calendar. <br>In this session, we start showing how to compute the classical time intelligence by using the built-in DAX functions. Then, we will see some more complex time-intelligence formulas that require thinking out of the box, using advanced data modeling and querying techniques to produce interesting and useful formulas.</li> </ul> <p>I have been informed that this year a new selection process has taken place. Abstracts reviews and speakers reviews have been made by two separate teams, and a final judgment has been made by combining the two ratings. In particular, abstracts team didn’t know the speaker’s name of each session. It seems a smart way to handle 850 submission in a transparent way. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware of this new process.</p> <p>In the last years, I and <a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/alberto_ferrari">Alberto Ferrari</a> had too many sessions selected, so the board decided to assign us only a few of them and the selected ones wasn’t always the best ones (because it wasn’t possible for us to establish an order of preference in case more submissions were selected). For this reason, this year we limited our submissions to the sessions that were more likely to be interesting, considering the current request on the market, the questions we received usually and the need to avoid presenting something already presented in the previous year. So we made a small selection of sessions avoiding to submit the maximum number of sessions per speaker. But this has been a wrong choice, because based on the new evaluation system, it would have been certainly better to propose more sessions and not only in the area in which we are most specialized.</p> <p>I am not saying I have proposed sessions that was better than others selected. I have seen the proposals <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2013/Speakers/CallForSpeakers/SubmittedSessions.aspx">here</a> and there are very interesting sessions (I still don’t know which ones have been selected at the moment of writing). I would have just proposed at least other 2 regular sessions more advanced and focused on specific use cases. Being part of a board selecting sessions in other conferences (like <a href="http://www.sqlconference.it/events/2013/default.aspx">this</a>) I know that every selection process has some drawbacks and the best thing you can do is to communicate very well how the selection process will work, so that everybody is able to help the board producing the best proposals. I thought that proposing a lower number of session would have been better, but I was wrong.</p> <p>Well, I have been a speaker at PASS Summit in the last 4 years in a row (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012), so it’s probably time to take some rest from speaking!&nbsp; <img class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/wlEmoticon-smile_570A6C2B.png"></p><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=49151" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceCommunitiesPASSDiscount for PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013 #passbac #ssas #sqlpasshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/03/12/discount-for-pass-business-analytics-conference-2013-passbac-ssas-sqlpass.aspxTue, 12 Mar 2013 12:02:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:48201Marco Russo (SQLBI)0http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/48201.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=48201http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=48201<p>One month ago <a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/02/08/first-spring-conference-pass-business-analytics-conference-and-sql-bits-passbac-sqlbits-sqlpass.aspx">I wrote about my sessions</a> at PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013, in Chicago, IL on April 10-12, 2013. If you still have not registered, you can save $200 by using the code <strong>BAC228BL</strong> and you should hurry up, because there is another discount if you <a href="http://passbaconference.com/Register.aspx">register</a> within March 15, 2013.</p> <p>If you are too lazy to click on the previous post, I will speech in two sessions:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Modern Data Warehousing Strategy</strong></li> <li><strong>Self-Service Data Modeling</strong></li> </ul> <p>And now that Data Explorer Preview has been made public I can disclose that Data Explorer will be covered in my Self-Service Data Modeling session! I thought about writing an article about Data Explorer, but there is already a good coverage and I suggest you to read these blogs:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.sqljason.com/2013/03/introduction-to-data-explorer-preview.html">Introduction to Data Explorer Preview for Excel</a> by Jason Thomas</li> <li><a href="http://cwebbbi.wordpress.com/category/data-explorer/">Several posts</a> by Chris Webb</li> <li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dataexplorer/archive/2013/02/27/announcing-microsoft-data-explorer-preview-for-excel.aspx">Announcement</a> on Data Explorer Team blog</li> </ul><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=48201" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceSSASAnalysis ServicesPowerPivotPASSSQLBits XI in May 2013 – many reasons to attend! #sqlbits #dax #tabularhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/02/20/sqlbits-xi-in-may-2013-many-reasons-to-attend-sqlbits-dax-tabular.aspxWed, 20 Feb 2013 09:33:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:47803Marco Russo (SQLBI)0http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/47803.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=47803http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=47803<p>I and <a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/alberto_ferrari">Alberto Ferrari</a> will speak at <a href="http://www.sqlbits.com">SQLBits XI</a> (Nottingham, UK – May 2-4, 2013) and there are many good reasons to join us there, especially if you are interested to DAX!</p> <p>Here are our sessions:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Thursday, 02 May 2013 </strong>– Training Day - <strong><a href="http://www.sqlbits.com/Sessions/Event11/From_0_to_DAX2">From 0 to DAX</a></strong></li> <ul> <li>The entire day is dedicated to learning DAX, starting from the syntax and going forward with more complex syntaxes for both expressions and queries in DAX.</li> <li>Technical level: the goal is to be introductive, explaining the important concepts in DAX (such as filter context, row context, context transitions) and covering the usage of the most common DAX functions.</li> <li>Target audience: Information Workers interested in exploiting the many interesting features of PowerPivot for Excel 2013 and BI developers who want to learn the DAX language.</li> <li>In practice: if you started using DAX two years ago and created several projects in Tabular and/or PowerPivot with complex calculations, this is not the workshop for you (read about an <a href="http://www.sqlbi.com/courses/dax-advanced-workshop-london-may2012/">Advanced DAX Workshop</a> later in this post). But if you just started your first Tabular or PowerPivot projects and you are still wondering what CALCULATE is all about, then this is definitely the right training for you!</li> </ul> <li><strong>Friday, 03 May 2013</strong> – 10:50am – <strong><a href="http://www.sqlbits.com/Sessions/Event11/Modern_Data_Warehousing_Strategy">Modern Data Warehousing Strategy</a></strong></li> <ul> <li>How to design a Data Warehouse in 2013? Should we change something considering the introduction of in-memory technologies such as xVelocity? Is Self-Service BI affecting the way we design and implement a Corporate Data Warehouse?</li> <li>This is not a session about a specific feature of a product, but features and products have their effects on the data warehouse design. We’ll stop one hour trying to understand what changes in the big picture, affecting also our day-by-day job.</li> </ul> <li><strong>Friday, 03 May 2013</strong> – 2:40pm – <strong><a href="http://www.sqlbits.com/Sessions/Event11/Inside_xVelocity_InMemory_Engine_VertiPaq_">Inside xVelocity InMemory Engine (VertiPaq)</a></strong></li> <ul> <li>Do you use PowerPivot and/or Analysis Services Tabular? They use the same engine (xVelocity/VertiPaq) and you should know how it works.</li> <li>This session will show how xVelocity/VertiPaq works, how it compresses and stores data and why it is so fast answering to your queries.</li> <li>Why this is important? Because it is geeky! And because this knowledge will help you optimizing storage and DAX queries.</li> </ul> <li><strong>Saturday, 04 May 2013 </strong>– 10:50am – <strong><a href="http://www.sqlbits.com/Sessions/Event11/DAX_Query_Engine_Internals">DAX Query Engine Internals</a></strong></li> <ul> <li>DAX is amazingly fast. But some query might be not fast enough.</li> <li>Do you want to know how to optimize your DAX query? This session is for you.</li> <li>Knowing the internals of xVelocity InMemory engine is just the first step (see Friday’s session). Then you need to apply this knowledge to DAX and understand why different DAX syntaxes for the same result might have different performance.</li> <li>Understanding cross-filtering is a key to master DAX optimization. The more you know DAX, the more you will appreciate this session!</li> </ul> </ul> <p>As I said before, the training day is an introductive course. If you already know DAX and want to improve your skills, there is a <a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/02/07/first-dax-advanced-workshop-in-london-may-2013-dax-tabular-ssas.aspx"><strong>3-day Advanced DAX Workshop</strong></a> I will teach in London on May 13-15, 2013. It could be also a good reason to visit London if you come from other countries!</p> <p>Now that we are almost done with the <a href="http://www.sqlbi.com/books/excel-2013-building-data-models-with-powerpivot/">PowerPivot for Excel 2013</a> book, we will write <a href="http://www.sqlbi.com/articles/">more articles</a> – stay tuned!</p><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=47803" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceCommunitiesAnalysis ServicesDAXBISMTabularFirst spring conference: PASS Business Analytics Conference and SQL Bits #passbac #sqlbits #sqlpasshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2013/02/08/first-spring-conference-pass-business-analytics-conference-and-sql-bits-passbac-sqlbits-sqlpass.aspxFri, 08 Feb 2013 15:50:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:47527Marco Russo (SQLBI)3http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/47527.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=47527http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=47527<p>Spring is a conferences’ season and the upcoming one is no exception. I will be speaking at PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013, which will be the first event this year, so I’d like to spend a few words about my sessions.</p> <p><a href="http://www.passbaconference.com/"><strong><font size="3">PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013</font></strong></a> <br>April 10-12, 2013 | Chicago, IL – United States</p> <p>This conference is targeted to Business Analytics professionals. Thus, I expect to meet both BI Developers, Excel Advanced Users, Data Analyst and, of course, the new Data Scientist role (if you have a business card with such a definition, please drop me one, so I can demonstrate to skeptic people that this figure actually exists!). I have two sessions:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Modern Data Warehousing Strategy</strong></li> <ul> <li><em>April 11th, 2013 – 1:30 pm – Chicago Ballroom VIII <br>Track: Strategy and Architecture</em></li> <li>The recent introduction of new technologies such as PowerPivot, the BI Semantic Model, and columnstore indexes in SQL Server and advances in self-service business intelligence and big data might be considered threats to the classic data warehouse ecosystem. In reality, a good data warehouse is still the best starting point for any kind of analysis, but we do need to update our strategy for data warehouse implementation to fit the requirements of this new era. This session will start the conversation about what a modern strategy for data warehousing can and should be. What type of data modeling should we use for the data warehouse? What is the role of data marts? Does the use of technologies such as PowerPivot or Analysis Services Tabular affect the way we should model our data? Do columnstore indexes remove the need for an analytical server like Analysis Services? We will discuss these and other questions, offering an updated approach to the data warehouse modeling methodology. <strong> <br></strong></li> </ul> <li><strong>Self-Service Data Modeling</strong></li> <ul> <li><em>April 12th, 2013 – 1:30 pm – Sheraton Ballroom I &amp; II <br>Track: Data Analytics and Visualization</em></li> <li> <p>Self-service business intelligence looks promising, empowering information workers to grab amazing insights from data. But are Excel 2013 and DAX language knowledge enough to analyze data? The answer in most cases is no – information workers will also need an ability to properly model their data and the skill to use some new tools to reshape data in the correct way. In this session, we will analyze some common problem scenarios where data analysis is difficult due to the shape of the model and see how to solve them.</p> </li> </ul> </ul> <p>In theory, I expect two different audiences at the two sessions, but I know that there will be people attending both, especially who provides tools to end users. I’d like to receive feedback about what you would expect to see in such sessions (regardless you will attend or not!), so that I check if I defined the correct expectations for the audience.</p> <p>If you want to attend, <a href="http://www.passbaconference.com/Register.aspx">register</a> before March 15 in order to get a discounted price. You can also <strong>save $200</strong> by using the code <strong>BAC228BL</strong>. See you in Chicago!</p><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=47527" width="1" height="1">Business IntelligenceConference CommunitiesConferenceSSASAnalysis ServicesMethodologyTabularAfter #SQLBits ready for #SQLPASShttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2011/10/05/after-sqlbits-ready-for-sqlpass.aspxWed, 05 Oct 2011 05:50:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:38849Marco Russo (SQLBI)0http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/38849.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=38849http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=38849I just returned from my second SQLBits , this time in Liverpool, and I have to say it is a really great conference. Everything can be improved, but I have to say that it’s hard to find a conference where you can have more networking opportunities than...(<a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2011/10/05/after-sqlbits-ready-for-sqlpass.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=38849" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceApproaching events #mstc11 #ppws #sqlbitshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2011/03/03/approaching-events-mstc11-ppws-sqlbits.aspxThu, 03 Mar 2011 10:15:28 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:33884Marco Russo (SQLBI)0http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/33884.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=33884http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=33884The spring season is always full of events and I’m just preparing for a number of them. First of all, we are getting very good interest for the PowerPivot Workshop in Copenhagen on 21-22 March 2011. Tomorrow (Friday March 4) will be the last day to take...(<a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2011/03/03/approaching-events-mstc11-ppws-sqlbits.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=33884" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceSQL ServerPowerPivotInside DAX session at PASShttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2010/10/15/inside-dax-session-at-pass.aspxFri, 15 Oct 2010 14:04:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:29336Marco Russo (SQLBI)1http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/29336.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=29336http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=29336I will be a speaker this year at PASS Summit 2010 in Seattle, and I will present two sessions. The one I’d like to talk about in this post is the Inside DAX one. I chose to do this session (instead of another one that was initially planned) because when...(<a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2010/10/15/inside-dax-session-at-pass.aspx">read more</a>)<img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=29336" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferencePowerPivotDAXSQLBits 2009http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2009/02/23/sqlbits-2009.aspxMon, 23 Feb 2009 14:51:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:12033Marco Russo (SQLBI)0http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/12033.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=12033http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=12033<P>This the second time in a row I will not able to attend to <A class="" href="http://www.sqlbits.com/">SQLBits</A> - but don't lose this event if you can go to Manchester on March 28th, 2009. The conference is free, but registration is required. A training day (with a reasonable fee) is also scheduled the day before. I hope to attend the next one... </P>
<P>The reason I cannot go is mainly because a few days later there is the <A class="" href="http://www.sqlconference.it/">Microsoft SQL Server &amp; Business Intelligence Conference 2009</A> in Milan and I'm&nbsp;involved in the organization of that conference&nbsp;- but be careful, all the sessions are in Italian, so it is good only if you already know that language! Otherwise, Manchester would be a better option for you!</P><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=12033" width="1" height="1">Conference CommunitiesConferenceCommunitiesSQL Server 2008SQL Server 2005SQL ServerSelf-Service Business Intelligencehttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2008/09/22/self-service-business-intelligence.aspxMon, 22 Sep 2008 20:31:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:9020Marco Russo (SQLBI)4http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/comments/9020.aspxhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/commentrss.aspx?PostID=9020http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=9020<P>The next <A class="" href="http://www.msbiconference.com/">Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference</A> is coming and I just looked at sessions to include in my agenda. Every time I do this work, I find something in <A class="" href="http://www.msbiconference.com/pages/tracksandsessions.aspx">sessions descriptions</A> that anticipates something that is coming out as news announcement in some of the keynote. But this time, session titles are enough to see that <A class="" href="http://www.msbiconference.com/pages/tracksandsessions.aspx?v=bytrack&amp;k=self-service&amp;d=0">big news are coming</A>.</P>
<P>CL211 <STRONG>New Horizons for Microsoft Business Intelligence with Self-Service Analysis Technologies<BR></STRONG>presented by Donald Farmer and Amir Netz</P>
<P>PL308 <STRONG>New Horizons for Microsoft Business Intelligence with Self-Service Reporting<BR></STRONG>presented by Lukasz Pawlowski, Carolyn Chau, Sean Boon, Roger Sanborn, Chris Baldwin, Thierry D'hers</P>
<P>I don't know if there are new products or new releases of existing products involved in these announcements. However, the keyword here is "self-service BI". Other vendors already used this term in the past, now it's the Microsoft turn. I hope to see real products and not only buzzwords. </P>
<P>BTW: I will attend the conference in Seattle - drop me a line if you will be there and you'd like to discuss the <A class="" href="http://www.sqlbi.com/Default.aspx?tabid=88">SQLBI Methodology</A> with us (<A class="" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/alberto_ferrari">Alberto</A> is coming too). You can find post about it using the <A class="" href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/tags/Methodology/default.aspx">Methodology tag</A>.</P><img src="http://sqlblog.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=9020" width="1" height="1">Business IntelligenceConference CommunitiesConference